Fluid compressor construction



Jan.' 23, 1940. R J, BUSH ET AL 2,187,931

FLUID COMPRESSOR CONSTRUCTION Filed March 23, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet L vl'. I HHH IIIU 4 In n Ih m 70 6G 5 355 a@ 43 ,66

I i |"f'lllll iI wt 44 mmm-25%?,

ATTORNEY Jan. 23, 1940.

R. J. BUSH ET AL FLUID COMPRESSOR CONSTRUCTION Filed March 23, 1938 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS RANKINLLBUSH EYwnLLlAM H GLASS ATTORNEYPatented Jan. 23, 194V() UNITED s'mt'rr:s)-

FLUID COMPRESSOR- CONSTRUCTION Rankin J ."Bush, Jeannette, and WilliamH. Glass, Pittsburgh,- Pa., assignors to' The -Westinghouse AirBrakelCompany, Wilmerding, Pa., a cor- .f r VVporation of Pennsylvania IY ,Application March 23,1938', serial m1191650 2 Claims.

This invention relates yto `fluid compressors, Vand more particularly toimprovedfinlet and discharge valve means for a uidcompressor.

Fluidcompressors ofthe high speed type de-l ,u periods of time withoutrequiring attention.

Such valves should be light enough to operate ment, and yet must haveadequate ow capacity to permit rapid supply of uid under pressure.v

lTheconstruction and arrangement of the inlet should, furthermore, besuch as will permit inspection and removal of the parts to be performedWithout difcultl 20 'Ihe principal object of the invention is to providean improved uid compressor comprising inlet and discharge valve meanshaving the above.

advantages.

Another object of our invention is to provide 25 improved inlet anddischarge valve means of sim-` ple and inexpensive construction for a`iiuid compressor, comprising one or more inlet valve mechcompressorhead, so thatfthe valve means will 35 occupy a relatively small spacewhile providing adequate ilow capacity, and yet be readilyre-v movableas a unit for inspection or repairs.

. taken with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein: y'

(c1. 23e-228) 'n viewtaken on the line 4-ll of Fig. 3 Fig. 5 is a and.discharge Valve means of the compressori disposed in la vertical boreand movable down-Lv @the lower end thereof a yoke member' 35,' which is*.disposeddiagonally in the inlet passage 26 and i twol ofgthecompressorinletv valves in a-manner 4.

:unit: lwithin' ywhich the yinlet and .dischargevalve sectional .planview...taken on the. line 5-51 of Fig. 2, and showing-at the,l lines I-I and-2 2 fthefplanes of sections for the Figures 1 and 2,

respectively; Fig. i-is a sectional plan View taken- 5 lon the line 6 6.f Fig. 2; Vand Fig. 7 is affragf mentary sectional-.view-taken on the.line 'l-'l of Fig. 61. I

. Referring to. Fig..1 ofthe drawings, vthey iiuid compressor comprisesa cylinderfblock I`0, .which 1U "is provided with la pluralityof. heatradiating ns silently and `with minimum resistance to movel'l and isVadapted 'to' be mounted on the usual crankcase, not shown, or othersuitable base for the compressor. Two cylinders I2 areformed inthecylinder blockI lll, in each, of which cylindersq I is operablymounted a"pistonsuch as that indicated at i3. .The -luid compressor furthercomprises a lowerplate member I5, an upper plate member I6 and acompressor head l1, whichl ele- .ments- .are "securedtogether bysuitable meanswg such asbolts I8 and are adapted toy bemounted by meansof similar bolts i9 to the cylinder block v Illas shown-in Figs. .1 and'ofthe drawings, .the i upper ends of the cylinders l2 being closed bythe plate member I5. Suitable gaskets 21,/ 22*and.f2`5

. 23 may. be 'interposed between the adjacent vsur- `faces oithecylinder block:v Il) and the lower plate member I'Ej, between theplate members i5 and |6,.and between the plate member I and the cylinderhead. Il, respectively, for insuring tighto i .ointsfbetween thesemembers.

Asshown in Fig. l ofthe drawingathe compresser' head'` l'l Ihas formedtherein a centrally disposedv inlet. passage 25 which` communicates.with the atmospheraand adischargepassage 2l, .which partiallyVsurrounds the inlet. passage and' .may be connected with the usualreceiving reser- `A further object of our invention 'is to provide lcompressor inlet and discharge valvemeans as above described, theindividual valve elements of which comprise centrally apertured discsvslid-V ably mounted on stationary guide'membersand1- provided with`spiral orA` cone-shaped. biasing? springs, Whichact to cushionjmovementof` the 45' valve elements away from the valve seats. Other objects andadvantages of our invention. ".Will appear inthe followingdescriptionthereot voir, not shown.` yAn unloading' mechanism isvmounted inthe head Il, comprising a piston 30 vwardly against the-forceof va spring 3l upon ay 33 withthe'` receiving 'reservoir'. The piston3|]A operatively engages a plunger 35 carrying at is adapted tobe'perated to eect unseating of 4hereinafter explained..A i n v 50According .to our invention, the upper and'low'- er `plate memberslG'and l5 are similar in form, as is .best'showninFigsg 5 and 6,these'plate members vbeing adapted to be assembledinto a N mechanisms ofthe compressor are entirely contained.

Each of the plate members IB and I5 is provided on opposite sides withIiat rectangular sealing` faces such as indicated at 38 and 39 in Figs.5 and 6, the portions of the plate members sur-- rounding the sealingfacesconstituting heat radiating ns 4U and 4I, respectively. Formed inthe upper plate member I5 are two separate pairs of connected valvechambers 43, which pairs of chambers are adapted to be disposed abovethe two cylinders I2, respectively, when the compressor is assembledasshown in Fig. 2. Each of the valve chambers 43 is vconnected througha. plurality of circularly arranged passages 44 formed in the platemember i6 with the discharge passage 21 of the compressor head Il, andis concentrically aligned with a plurality of similarly arrangedvalvepassages 45, which are` I inders I2, as shown in Fig. v2 of thedrawings.

elements 53 is thus adapted to move upwardly'.

Referring to'Fig. 6, the'lower plate member I5 is similarly providedwith two pairs of conl nectedinlet valve chambers 48, each pair beingassociated with onevof the compressor cylinders.`

Each of the valve chambers 48 communicates: y

through a plurality of circularl'y disposed passages 49 with thecorresponding compressor cylinder I2, as is shown in Fig. 2 of thedrawings, and alsoI by way of similarly arranged passagesl 5l! in theupper plate member I5 with the inlet passage 26.

For controlling the flow of fluid compressed in the respective cylindersI2 to the dischargev formed in the plate member I5 and extendsconcentrically through the aperture in the valve element 53 and into arecess 5'! formed in the upper plate member IB. The discharge valveelements 53 are biased toward seated position by spirally coiled springs53,. each of which is interposed between the corresponding valve element53 and the upper surface of the valve chamber 43', and being of conicalform is adapted to permit maximum upward movement of the valve element.It will be noted that each` of the discharge valve on its guide pin 55without, striking the usual rigid stop shoulder, such upward movementbeing efectively cushioned by the associated spring'58.

Similarly, one ofwfour inlet valve elements 5I is disposed in each of`the inlet `valve chambers 48 for controlling communication between eachchamber and the passages 5D. The inlet valve elements 6I are biasedtoward seated position by spirally coiled springs 52 similar to thesprings 58, and are slidably guided on pins 54, which are` secured insuitable bores 65 formed in the plate the inlet valve elements 6I inmoving downwardlyv from, seated position are adapted to be cushionedagainst the springs 82, which thus consttute yielding stop means forinsuring quiet operation.

Referring to Fig. 7 of the drawings, it will be noted that arcuatedepressions I2a are provided in the cylinder blocks I at the upperportions of each of the cylinder bores I2, so that the outermostpassages 49 are entirely open to the cylinder bores.

Means is carried on the upper plate member i6 for transmitting movementof the unloading mechanism to the inlet Valves, comprising two pairs ofplunger elements 70, each pair being .slidably mounted in suitablebores'formed in the upper plate member I and in operative alignment withone of the inlet valve elements 6I of the compressor cylinders, as shownin Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. The upper ends of the plunger membersextend into the inlet passage 26 and are urged upwardly into engagementwith the lower face of ,A the yoke member 3B `by coil springs 7l, whichare interposed between the plate member I6 and collars 'I2 formed on theplunger members.

Operation In operation, on the compression stroke of the compressorpiston i3, iiuid compressed `thereby is forced from the cylinder throughthe passages 45 so as to unseat the associateddischarge valve elements53 against the forces of the springs 58, and thence flows through thevalve chambers 43 and passages 44 to the discharge passage 2l. Since apair of .discharge valve elements 53 is provided for each of thecompressor cylinders, adequate flow capacity is insured so that eachvalveelement 53 is required to move away from `its seat for only aportion of the travel permitted by the associated spring 58, which thusacts as a yielding stop for the valve. Upon the downward or suctionstroke of the compressor piston I3, the discharge valves 53 arerseatedwhile the inlet valve elements 6l associated with that piston are moveddownwardly and away from their seats by air or other uid flowing fromthe inlet passage 26 through the passages 50, valve chambers 48 andpassage 49 to the compressor cylinder. In

'thus moving downwardly the valve elements 6I are cushioned against the`spirally coiled springs 62, so that quiet operation is insured.

When fluid under pressure is supplied to the pipe 33, shown in Fig.y 1of the drawings, for unloading the compressor, the fluid pressure in thechamber 32 eiects downward movement of the piston 30 and the associatedmembers l35 and 36,

the member 36 thereby operating the plunger members 70 to unseat one ofthe inlet Valve elements 5I for each of the compressor cylinders, (seeFig. 4), the compressor being then unloaded. i It will thus be apparentthat our invention provides improved inlet and discharge valve means fora fluid compressor, in which the individualr valve elements are designedto offer minimum resistance to movement and to operate quietly,

while providing the desired ow capacity. YSince 'the valve elements areoperatively mounted on pinssecured in associated plate members which maybe handled as a unit of the compressor, the

u parts of the compressor are rendered readily accessible for inspectionor repairs.

. Although we have described 'a preferred embodiment of our inventionindetail, it is not our intention to limit its scope to thatembodiment 0rotherwise than by the terms of the appended c1aims.`

Having now described our invention, what' we" Li o claim as nevv` anddesire Ato secure by Letters Patent, is:

1.1m a fluid compressor, in combination, a cylinder portion, a headportion, a. pair of adjoining plate members interposed between said tWoportions and having inlet' and discharge valve chambers formed in theadjacent faces thereof, one of said plate members having bores disposedconcentrically of saidvalve chambers and the other plate member havingrecesses respectively aligned with said bores, guide pins removablyinserted in said bores and extending through said chambers into lockingrelation With said recesses,

centrally apertured inlet and discharge valveV discs disposed insaidchambers, respectively, each disc being slidably mounted on thecorresponding to `be interposed between said cylinder and said head andhaving adjoining apertured seat faces, each of saidplate members havingformed therein a pair of connected circular valve chambers' pressorcylinder, inlet valve discs' separately mounted in one pair ofvalvechambers and seating on the face of the adjacent: plate member tocontrol inlet flow ofA uid through the apertures` chambers forcontrolling discharge of uid under" pressure from said cylinder, thevalve discs in each pair of associated chambers being operativesimultaneously for thereby alfording the required flow capacity withminimum valve lift'v to insure quiet operation of the compressor.

RANKINJ. BUSH. f WILLIAM H. GLASS.

